The FOCAC Johannesburg Summit comes at a right time

The Johannesburg Summit and 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) are to be held in South Africa from 3 to 5 December 2015. This historic gathering will not only witness the ever-growing of China-Africa relations evolving into a more mature stage, but also mark a new milestone in the history of […]

The Johannesburg Summit and 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) are to be held in South Africa from 3 to 5 December 2015. This historic gathering will not only witness the ever-growing of China-Africa relations evolving into a more mature stage, but also mark a new milestone in the history of China-Africa friendship.
It has been 15 years since the mechanism of FOCAC was co-founded by China and Africa in 2000. With the theme of Africa-China Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development, the Johannesburg Summit is the second one of FOCAC following the Beijing Summit in 2006, and notably the first China-Africa Summit to be held on the African Continent. During the Johannesburg Summit, both Chinese and African leaders present will jointly review the progress achieved by China-Africa friendly cooperation in the past 60 years and FOCAC in the last 15 years, map out the blueprint of China-Africa mutually beneficial cooperation in the context of new situation, and exchange views on major international and regional issues as well.
During the summit, the Chinese side, upon the requirements of both sides, will put forward a package of new initiatives to support the development of Africa and deepen China-Africa practical cooperation, thus lifting China-Africa cooperation to a new high. The aforementioned initiatives, guided by the shared development concepts and goals of China and Africa, will integrate China’s development tightly with Africa’s development, and inject impetus into the realization of “China Dream” and “Africa Dream” simultaneously. The Chinese side will also give full play to the advantages between China and Africa, i.e. high-level political mutual trust and strong economic complementarity, and share its own development experience with Africa, so as to help break the two development bottlenecks of overdue infrastructure and lack of talents reserve faced by Africa, resolve three issues of people’s livelihood on food, employment and health in Africa, and build up three systems in the field of independent industrialization, food security, public health and epidemic prevention. We have every reason to believe that the Johannesburg Summit will further deepen mutual understanding and friendship between China a By H.E. Gu Xiaojie

The Johannesburg Summit and 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) are to be held in South Africa from 3 to 5 December 2015. This historic gathering will not only witness the ever-growing of China-Africa relations evolving into a more mature stage, but also mark a new milestone in the history of China-Africa friendship.
It has been 15 years since the mechanism of FOCAC was co-founded by China and Africa in 2000. With the theme of Africa-China Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development, the Johannesburg Summit is the second one of FOCAC following the Beijing Summit in 2006, and notably the first China-Africa Summit to be held on the African Continent. During the Johannesburg Summit, both Chinese and African leaders present will jointly review the progress achieved by China-Africa friendly cooperation in the past 60 years and FOCAC in the last 15 years, map out the blueprint of China-Africa mutually beneficial cooperation in the context of new situation, and exchange views on major international and regional issues as well.
During the summit, the Chinese side, upon the requirements of both sides, will put forward a package of new initiatives to support the development of Africa and deepen China-Africa practical cooperation, thus lifting China-Africa cooperation to a new high. The aforementioned initiatives, guided by the shared development concepts and goals of China and Africa, will integrate China’s development tightly with Africa’s development, and inject impetus into the realization of “China Dream” and “Africa Dream” simultaneously. The Chinese side will also give full play to the advantages between China and Africa, i.e. high-level political mutual trust and strong economic complementarity, and share its own development experience with Africa, so as to help break the two development bottlenecks of overdue infrastructure and lack of talents reserve faced by Africa, resolve three issues of people’s livelihood on food, employment and health in Africa, and build up three systems in the field of independent industrialization, food security, public health and epidemic prevention. We have every reason to believe that the Johannesburg Summit will further deepen mutual understanding and friendship between China and Africa, push forward cooperation between China and Africa featured by wide-ranging, all-directional, and multi-layered, and strongly forge a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership.
The Johannesburg Summit is to be held at a time of peace and development. The world currently is undergoing complex and profound changes. To pursue peace, development and cooperation is the irresistible trend of our times. Given the background that countries become increasingly interdependent and have more benefit intertwined, peoples around the world generally hope to join hands in sharing opportunities, coping with challenges and seeking common development. China is the largest developing country in the world, while Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Both are important rising forces in the current international system. To strengthen China-Africa cooperation will not only underpin their respective development, but also contribute to the overall interests of developing countries, South-South cooperation and the building of a more equitable and just world pattern.
The Johannesburg Summit is to be held at a time that China and African countries will usher in the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties. It is of particular significance that leaders from both China and Africa will get together in South Africa this year to think retrospectively and look forward. Over the past half a century and more, China-Africa cooperation has gone through one historic event after another, which are worthy of cherishment and commemoration. From the first hand-shaking between Chinese and African leaders in Bandung Conference in 1955 to the new concept of Sincerity, Real Results, Affinity and Good Faith, and proposal of building a China-Africa Community of Shared Destiny raised by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Africa in 2013; From China’s assistance in training African Freedom Fighters for national liberation to the support of African countries towards China in restoring its lawful seat in the United Nations; From Tanzania-Zambia railway built by Chinese and African workers under challenging circumstances to the emergency assistance provided by China to combat Ebola epidemic in West Africa; From the launch of FOCAC to the establishment of the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership. History has witnessed the milestones of China-Africa friendship one by one.
Nowadays, China and Africa enjoy a cordial relationship with growing political mutual trust, increasing high-level visits, deepening people-to-people exchanges, roaring fruitful economical cooperation and enhancing consultation and coordination in international affairs. China has diplomatic ties with 50 African countries till now. When China established diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1956, the trade volume between China and Africa stood at roughly $12 million. While by 2014, it already exceeded $220 billion, and China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for 6 years in a row since 2009. Moreover, since the Chinese Government sent the first medical team abroad to perform aid mission in April 1963, China has dispatched 24,500 medical staff to 49 African countries, trained more than six thousand local doctors and nurses, and made diagnosis and given treatment to more than 270 million patients till 2014. China has participated in 16 UN peacekeeping operations in Africa since 1990, and there are now 2,000 Chinese peacekeeping personnel in Africa.
Xiaojie is the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria
nd Africa, push forward cooperation between China and Africa featured by wide-ranging, all-directional, and multi-layered, and strongly forge a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership.
The Johannesburg Summit is to be held at a time of peace and development. The world currently is undergoing complex and profound changes. To pursue peace, development and cooperation is the irresistible trend of our times. Given the background that countries become increasingly interdependent and have more benefit intertwined, peoples around the world generally hope to join hands in sharing opportunities, coping with challenges and seeking common development. China is the largest developing country in the world, while Africa is the continent with the largest number of developing countries. Both are important rising forces in the current international system. To strengthen China-Africa cooperation will not only underpin their respective development, but also contribute to the overall interests of developing countries, South-South cooperation and the building of a more equitable and just world pattern.
The Johannesburg Summit is to be held at a time that China and African countries will usher in the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties. It is of particular significance that leaders from both China and Africa will get together in South Africa this year to think retrospectively and look forward. Over the past half a century and more, China-Africa cooperation has gone through one historic event after another, which are worthy of cherishment and commemoration. From the first hand-shaking between Chinese and African leaders in Bandung Conference in 1955 to the new concept of Sincerity, Real Results, Affinity and Good Faith, and proposal of building a China-Africa Community of Shared Destiny raised by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Africa in 2013; From China’s assistance in training African Freedom Fighters for national liberation to the support of African countries towards China in restoring its lawful seat in the United Nations; From Tanzania-Zambia railway built by Chinese and African workers under challenging circumstances to the emergency assistance provided by China to combat Ebola epidemic in West Africa; From the launch of FOCAC to the establishment of the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership. History has witnessed the milestones of China-Africa friendship one by one.
Nowadays, China and Africa enjoy a cordial relationship with growing political mutual trust, increasing high-level visits, deepening people-to-people exchanges, roaring fruitful economical cooperation and enhancing consultation and coordination in international affairs. China has diplomatic ties with 50 African countries till now. When China established diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1956, the trade volume between China and Africa stood at roughly $12 million. While by 2014, it already exceeded $220 billion, and China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for 6 years in a row since 2009. Moreover, since the Chinese Government sent the first medical team abroad to perform aid mission in April 1963, China has dispatched 24,500 medical staff to 49 African countries, trained more than six thousand local doctors and nurses, and made diagnosis and given treatment to more than 270 million patients till 2014. China has participated in 16 UN peacekeeping operations in Africa since 1990, and there are now 2,000 Chinese peacekeeping personnel in Africa.
Xiaojie is the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria